Plaque to be unveiled at Royal Welsh Warehouse

08/01/2020 @ 02:34

The death 100 years ago of one of Newtown's entrepreneurial sons will be held this weekend.

A pique will be unveiled marking the centenary of the death of Sir Pryce Pryce Jones, the pioneer of modern day mail order and parcel post on Saturday.

"Pryce Jones who was a drapers apprentice at the age of 12 years old and became manager of Mr Davies Drapers shop in Broad Street and opened his own Drapers Shop at No.50 Broad Street where he conceived his ideas of Mail Order in Oct 1859, then he bought his old boss Shop in Broad Street," said Ann Evans of the Heritage Hub for Mid Wales, which is organising the event.

"Then on the 3 October 1879, 20 years later, he opened the Pryce Jones Royal Welsh Warehouse and was Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1887 for his services to commerce. Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones was also MP of Montgomeryshire and became the High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire."

On Saturday, 11 January an event attended by the Mayor of Newtown, Cllr David Selby, Montgomeryshire AM, Russell George, and the High Sheriff of Powys, David Lloyd Peate, will be held at the Royal Welsh Warehouse.

A plaque will be unveiled at 10.30am.

On the 11 October 2020 Pryce Pryce-Jones will be honoured by the community with not one but two heritage plaques, one which will be linked digitally to Newtown Heritage Trail and will promote the legacy and history of Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones and his global mail order empire.

Saturday's event will take place at 10.30am in the front entrance of the Pryce Jones building and plaques will be unveiled.